Interesting the church that Rome was excommunicated from in 1054 CE and responded with an excommunication of them same year… well which ever is viewed as leaving whom, the apple does not fall far from the tree… religious leaders in luxury backing politicos that harm communities— Never mind what would Jesus do in this time in history, if he came into our Christianities today, what would he think?

The Russian Orthodox Church apologised on Thursday for doctoring a photograph of Patriarch Kirill to remove what bloggers said was a luxury wristwatch following accusations that he lives a lavish lifestyle.

It responded after eagle-eyed bloggers said an archive photo of the Patriarch on its website showed the reflection of a Breguet watch worth about $30,000 in the polished surface of a table where his arms rested during talks.

The Church has been under close scrutiny since clearly backing Vladimir Putin in March’s presidential election despite protests and accusations of widespread fraud benefiting his party in a December parliamentary poll.

The Church made no reference to a watch in a statement, but said a “rude violation of our internal ethics” had been made and removed the doctored 2009 photo from its Website, replacing it with a version showing a watch on his wrist.